This invention relates to an environmental enclosure for handling hazardous materials and more particularly to a mercury vapor purifier enclosure for use in dental establishments for working with and handling amalgam.
The hazards of mercury poisoning have appeared in dental literature for the past few years. The most dangerous reality of this condition--one that is too often underemphasized--is that once the symptoms occur, a great deal of damage has been done. In my article entitled MERCURY POISONING--A CASE HISTORY, published in the Journal of the New Jersey Dental Association, Winter 1978, pages 10 and 11, I describe case studies where practitioners have been seriously and fatally injured due to prolonged exposure to mercury and mercury vapors.
The practitioner and the public in general is becoming aware of such problems and the resulting consequences. The federal government, concerned with the occupational exposure to inorganic mercury, has dealt with the problem in The Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (OSHA). The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health recommends an annual analysis for mercury for all individuals who handle mercury. Unfortunately, due to the pressures imposed by a dental practice and other considerations, such recommendations are not uniformly followed and hence, mercury poisoning continues to be a major problem.
The toxicity problem in dental offices arises from two sources. First, by direct contact and absorption through the skin and hence gloves are worn and recommended when handling mercury. A second major cause is through inhalation of mercury fumes or vapor. The fumes are generated when mercury volatizes during the mixing, grinding, mulling and cutting of the amalgam. There is both a hazard to the dentist and to his assistants and essentially, to any person handling mercury or alloys of the same.
As indicated, the consequences of mercury poisoning are substantial and result in severe changes in personality manifesting symptoms of anxiety, timidity, indecision, irritability or excitability. Persons suffer from headaches, fatique, drowsiness or insomnia; as well as vasomotor disturbances, tremors, speech disorders and many other serious and permanent disabilities.
The prior art is aware of such difficulties as evidenced by U.S. Pat. No. 4,059,903 issued on Nov. 29, 1977 and entitled a CONTROLLED ENVIRONMENT WORK ENCLOSURE by Meyer Piet and Dean Giles. This patent describes an enclosure which by the use of fans, maintains a subatmospheric pressure within the enclosure allowing air to be continuously drawn in through inlets and to be directed rapidly downward past and through the work platform and through a series of filters to attempt to eliminate the obnoxious fumes.
The enclosure described is relatively complicated and expensive to fabricate and relatively difficult to use. The enclosure employs access ports which accommodate flexible gloves to be used when working with the platform. This aspect as well as the air paths and so on create difficulty in operation and usage of that enclosure.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an environmental enclosure adapted for use in dentistry for allowing one to handle mercury amalgam safely and expeditiously. The enclosure is simple to fabricate, easy to use and reliable in operation and inexpensive as compared to prior art devices.